Pettitte is coming back. Alot of people seem down on Wang cuz he pitched poorly in the playoffs, but the guy won 38 games the last 2 years. Hughes and Chamberlain are gonna be studs. How many teams would love to have them as their 3rd and 4th starters. Either Kennedy or Mussina as the fifth starter. Plenty of teams recently have won with young starting pitching, 03 Marlins, 06 Tigers, no reason the Yankees cant. Yanks need to upgrade the bullpen, that is a much bigger issue
In a best case scenario sure, what if Chamberlain dosn't transfer to the rotation well ( it's a concern, he's a 2pitch guy really if he can't throw the slider for strikes he'll be ineffective) What if Kennedy isn't ready? What if hughes is the same pitcher as last year (injury prone, mid 4s ERA) and most importantly... what if someone gets hurt? Pettite is getting up there, Mussina is ancient, They don't have all that much depth. so sure Best case they are fine, but if 1 or more thing go wrong it could get ugly, also who there can you count on come playoff time to matchup with the top 3 of BOS, CLE, or DET.
He's a 4 pitch guy. He has a good curveball and a good changeup to go along with his wicked slider and fastball. You don't know that because the first two he never had to use in his role of setup last year. That's why they want him in the starting rotation so much. Also why he is untouchable. He too has ace stuff.
Also, why is Hughes "injury prone"? He pulled his hammy when he overextended on a pitch while pitching a no-hitter in what, his 3rd start as a pro? Kennedy won't be an immediate starter, they've already announced that. Moose will be the fifth starter come Opening Day. So the rotation, if they don't acquire anyone, is as follows: Wang Pettitte Hughes Chamberlain Moose By virtue of their placement, Hughes and Chamberlain will pitch less innings early, thereby preserving them for later in the year. Toward the end of the year, we can assume Kennedy will be ready to join the rotation, thereby creating a 6 man rotation for the stretch. Then we still have a bunch of young arms who can spot-start late in the year to allieviate some of the workload. Sure, the guys who aren't with the club now are lower level quality, but that doesn't mean filling in spots won't be effective. The Yankees are fine. I'm far more concerned with the age of positional players like Matsui and Damon than I am with the rotation.
I still say Mussina is done... If his spring training is anything like last season, I don't think Girardi keeps him in the starting rotation
With Girardi as the manager everybody will be ready for the opening of the season. That's one of the big benefits we get with him.
Chamberlain may even be the fifth starter as you really don't need one in the first month very often. It probably will depend on how we come out of the gate. If it's slow then he will be #4. If we get off to a good start I would think he will be moved to #5 to conserve on innings.
Moose was done years ago. He's one of those players who has gotten by on name recognition for a few years now. But we're talking about a fifth starter, just biding time till Kennedy is ready. I'm fine with that. He'll get about 10 true starts, and then be moved to the pen to finish his career. I'm cool with that.
Eiland thinks he can still be effective. Having a real pitching coach this year will be interesting. We all know what he did with the three young kids. Now I want to see what he can do with Mussina, Farnsworth and Wang. Supposedly he even had Igawa pitching well in AAA at the end of the year.
We'll have to see but I am encouraged because that last year we went to the WS was when Zimmer & Mel were on the bench... I'm thinking they may have had more to do with the Yankee success than Torre
Pettitte will consider playing beyond '08. That could be great if he stays healthy. "New York's current rotation projects to have Chien-Ming Wang, Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, with Ian Kennedy and Kei Igawa among those in reserve. While there will be pitch and inning limits on the young pitchers, a six-man rotation isn't planned. Pettitte's decision last weekend to return was key. "Personally, it means a lot because I know what Andy is all about," new manager Joe Girardi said. "It gives you a guy that you can pencil in for 32 starts, and you know that he can handle the workload. ... When you have a lot of young pitchers, you have to be a lot more careful about their workload and how many starts and how many innings they throw." The 35-year-old left-hander could stay with the Yankees beyond 2008. "If I'm healthy and if my family wanted to support it again, we would consider it," Pettitte told Houston television station KRIV. "The Yankees are going to have a new stadium. I know down the road when we get through this season that will be in the back of my head also. That would be awfully nice to play in that new stadium." http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7511668 Interesting that they don't even see Kennedy as an early starter. The question arises as to why then they wouldn't include him as the third player in the Santana deal. You have to assume that they decided they didn't really want to give up Hughes even for Santana and were looking for a way out of the deal and that is why they refused everything the Twins offered on Monday. There were some rumors to that effect early in the week.
The thing the Yanks have to worry about is the IP for Hughes and Chamberlin. They will be ask to throw more pitches and innings then they ever have. How will the respond to the dead arm period all young pitchers go through? Especially with the AL lineups they will be facing.
They are on a strict 150 inning count next year. At least Chamberlain and Kennedy are. I assume Hughes is too. I'm not sure what their pitch count will be but it will be restricted. Another reason the Yankees better have some good middle relief.
Yeah. I fully expect that we will see a number of our young prospects in pinstripes during the season. We'll see a lot of DeSalvo, Wright, Ohlendorf, Igawa, etc. in the pen, absorbing innings, especially against less competitive teams, when we have big leads early. The pitch counts will be adhered to, and this is the perfect time for it. With a new manager, there isn't the same pressure on the organization to win this year that we normally have. They can take the steps towards developing the talent, rather than solely relying on it to pull in a title. And I don't care what they say publicly. I fully expect a 6 man rotation by August, unless the kids are simply blowing away hitters across the league. For the first time in many years I'm not simply confident we will make a postseason push. Rather, I'm excited about the future! I just hope the general Yankees fandom is smart enough to realize this might be a big off-year for us, but that doesn't mean we've taken a step backward.
I'm not sure about that. It is the last year of the old stadium and I think there will be a lot of pressure to close it on a winning note. Just as there will be to open the new one the same way the following year. There is always a reason for the pressure to be on with the Yankees :smile:
I agree that the Yanks starting pitching is fine, but I'd have Joba starting 4th on opening day and Moose starting 5th w/ Kennedy waiting in the wings in case anyone struggles or gets hurt. I don't think we necessarily need an ace like Haren or Santana but it would be nice to trade for or pick up a solid back of the rotation starter in case we get hit by the injury bug again.
